Closeup of a Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office vehicle. Photo: Emilee Calametti / The Center Square
By Darren Svan | The Center Sq
(The Center Square) – Caddo Parish Commissioner Chris Kracman said he is growing increasingly concerned about the tension between parish residents and contractors at the Stateline Road Data Center construction site.
That concern was significant enough to warrant law enforcement attention.
“The sheriff’s department contacted me and wanted to know how to mitigate the tension between contractors and citizens,” Kracman told The Center Square. “I told him to talk with the contractors about starting at a reasonable hour.”
Amazon Web Services and developer STACK Infrastructure are constructing multi-building tech campuses in rural Caddo and Bossier parishes. Construction is expected to span more than five years.
Kracman spoke about the issue with fellow commissioners last week, when he submitted a request to commission administration for construction schedules, permits authorizing after-hours work and noise mitigation plans.
Kracman said he has not received the requested documents.
Parish residents near the site are upset with construction crews who start operating their backhoes and other heavy machinery just before 4 a.m., Kracman said, adding that a reasonable start time is around 7 a.m.
The Center Square reviewed a handful of those complaints obtained through a public records request. They range from excessive construction noise and damage along road easements, to construction equipment blocking driveways and disruption of residents' access to their property.
“They have a bad attitude, and I think anybody else would too,” he said. “They have to accept this coming but it’s hard to do when the construction is interrupting their sleep and their commute to work.”
Kracman said those citizens were unable, until this week, to reach William Bradford, a community liaison, or any other STACK or Amazon representative to work out a solution.
When asked for additional details about the complaints, Bradford directed all media inquiries to STACK's press email.
Property owners whose homes neighbor the site have taken the step of getting in the roadway to film construction activity and expressing their frustration verbally.
“Contractors are calling the police on the people who are calling the police on them,” Kracman said. “What we’re having over there is an old fashioned standoff and the tensions are going up and up.
“I believe that it is liable to get worse. Somebody needs to find a way to chill before somebody gets violent,” he said. “They are fed up with the inconvenience they are experiencing.”